How much of this is just a numbers game for the FS folks? I comment on a ton of in-state and out-of-state stuff, but do they actually read any of them? All I get is a 'form letter' thanking me for my submission that reads nearly verbatim to all the other 'responses' I get back. I can't imagine the rhetoric that comes through from the non-motorized community that even makes sense for what they are fighting for. How do we know that each submission is given an individual (and hopefully unbiased) review to help determine the outcome of these things? If sledders put in 17,000+ comments regardless of if they are form letter or personal would it make a difference? Would it be different if our open use alliance groups started petitions/lawsuits before and land use issue was brought from the non-motorized groups? Are our voices being heard regardless of how many comments we submit, or do we give ourselves the shaft for not spamming the hell out of the comment periods? I'd sure like to know, I don't know about the rest of you.
Here's my take. I'll continue to support objectives that try to keep public lands open to all of us. I'm not filthy rich, and don't have a lot of public persuasion skills, but I'm trying. The problem I see is that the motorized community is internally segregated. How many folks ride bikes in the desert that would never think to comment on an initiative to keep sledding areas open? How many sledders ride all winter but never check on land use issues that need comments for OHV in other areas? I'm guilty as charged in a lot of ways. IMHO though, until we get the ENTIRE motorsports community i.e. bikes, sleds, quads, sand rails, jeeps, boats, PWC, UTV, etc... to join in as one group to battle all of these land use suits, we will never be able to defeat the deep pocketed masses of the non-motorized nation. It's not that we can't, it's how do we catch up to the groups that are notifying hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of 'members' that provide input? Why can't we replicate the tactics they use to be successful?
The OP's issue is a fact. The motorsports community is not where it needs to be to effectively fight right now. Would that change if we equaled the amount of comments? Do we need to reach deeper into our pockets to support our coalitions? Do we sit back and continually hope we called a bluff? I don't know......... Just seems like most the stuff I see these days is about as worthless as a political argument on facebook.